The Notable Films of 2013: Volume L Part 2

In this volume I look at the big-budget film reboot of a classic Western hero, a film about one of the more infamous failures of modern U.S. Naval Special Operations, a long at the most famous king of sleaze in London's SOHO district, Rob Zombie's attempt to fuse horror with operatic art house stylings, a biopic of the star of porn classic "Deep Throat," and a much anticipated period immigration drama from James Gray.

Analysis: Already one of the most infamous film productions of recent years, this cinematic rebooting of the American Old West character serials from the 1930s through the 1950s began life a decade ago over at Sony Pictures. Five years later it wound up with producer Jerry Bruckheimer over at Disney, and it soon became a "Pirates of the Caribbean" team re-union as actor Johnny Depp, director Gore Verbinski, and scribes Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio all joined the project.

It was in mid-2011 though when the trouble began. Disney delayed the production due to concerns over the $250 million budget, and the failure of Universal's Western-genre film "Cowboys & Aliens." Those involved ended up cutting action sequences, supernatural elements from the script (basically Native American werewolf mythology), and even their own upfront fees in order to rein in the budget to a more economical $215 million. It came down to the wire but the production went forward and shooting began last February in New Mexico.

Unfortunately severe weather disruptions, set damage, and the cost of constructing period trains for the project led to cost blowouts which brought the budget back up to its original $250 million total. There were numerous delays with shooting and quite a few on-set issues, but ultimately it wrapped filming and is now in post-production ahead of its worldwide release around the July 4th weekend of 2013. Rumors of reshoots that emerged the other day have since been outright denied by Disney Pictures.

Depp plays Tonto, a Native American spirit warrior who recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid (Armie Hammer), a man of the law, into a legend of justice. The two unlikely heroes ended up having to learn how to work together. Joining them are a mix of interesting British and American actors including "Luther" scene stealer Ruth Wilson as the love interest, Tom Wilkinson and William Fichtner as the villains, and the likes of Helena Bonham Carter, James Badge Dale, James Frain, Harry Treadaway, Matt O'Leary and "Deadwood" regulars W. Earl Brown and Leon Rippy in supporting parts.

Right now though, the big question is if the film's performance will be good enough for all the hassle to be worth it. Having gambled big and lost in recent years with the expensive failures of "John Carter" and "Mars Needs Moms," Disney needs a live-action Summer hit. 'Ranger' certainly has more of a chance, especially with former Warners chief Alan Horn now running the show, yet Westerns are still a tough sell - especially in overseas markets. Also, despite the release, 'Ranger' doesn't have the buzz around it that other Summer fare such as "Man of Steel," "Star Trek Into Darkness" and "Iron Man 3" have. It'll be an interesting game of wait and see in July.

Analysis: Some filmmakers have to agree to direct big-budget blockbusters in order to get to make the smaller films they want to do. Michael Bay has to do a fourth "Transformers" as part of the deal he made to get the go-ahead on his bodybuilder action comedy "Pain and Gain". The same goes for Peter Berg who had to helm last year's disastrous mega-budget board game adaptation "Battleship" in order to get the $50 million in funding he needed for this true story Afghan war drama.

While "Zero Dark Thirty" dealt with perhaps the greatest single operational success story of the U.S. Armed Forces in the Middle East over the past ten years, 'Lone' covers one of its most infamous failures. In fact, the 'Operation Red Wings' mission in June 2005 has been described as "the worst single day loss of life for Naval Special Warfare personnel since World War II." A team of four men, SEAL Team 10, were tasked with the mission of surveillance and reconnaissance of the notorious Taliban leader Ahmad Shah. Just hours after insertion, the group fell into an ambush and three of the four were killed.

A sixteen-man helicopter crew sent in to rescue them was subsequently shot down by a rocket propelled grenade. The operation lasted three more weeks as the bodies of the deceased were recovered and the only survivor, Marcus Luttrell (Wahlberg), was rescued. Of the film adaptation, the real Luttrell says: "I want to make sure that the movie is true to the book. Most people get their information from movies and TV and don’t read so I want to make sure this movie is as realistic as possible."

Employing the RED Epic cameras (ala "The Hobbit") and shot in New Mexico this past Fall, Wahlberg is joined by a great cast including Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster as his three fellow SEALs. There's also Alexander Ludwig and Eric Bana as a SEAL and a Lt. Commander respectively who were both on the helicopter. It's a fairly grim story, but Berg has demonstrated an excellent handling of this kind of action and can be a solid director when the material is good enough as it was in "Friday Night Lights" and "The Kingdom". This is also a film that has the potential to be both critically and commercially well-regarded.

Analysis: "Precious" producer Sarah Siegel-Magness makes her directorial debut on this $15 million Los Angeles-based indie drama about what happens to a family left behind after the father leaves his wife (Madsen) for another woman. Based on the April Stevens novel "Angel, Angel" and adapted by Karen McCullah, the tale is easy to relate to as most people usually know of someone who has gone through the situation. Though people come out the other side, how many scars they receive along the way and carry with them varies greatly.

There's a solid little cast here to join Madsen. "Friday Night Lights" actor Zach Gilford plays one of the sons trying to help his shattered mother, while "True Blood" shapeshifter Sam Trammell plays a handsome landscape gardener and potential new love interest for her. Anthony LaPaglia and Eva Longoria have small roles as the philandering husband and his mistress. The scene stealer though looks to be Amanda Crew who plays a carefree spirit whose outlook changes the perspective of the family members and restores their sense of hope. Phase 4 is planning a simultaneous theatrical and VOD release in the Spring.

Analysis: An adaptation of the darkly comic 2005 novel by British author Nick Hornby ("About a Boy," "High Fidelity"), it will be interesting to see a mainstream movie built on a concept that some might find highly objectionable. While Johnny Depp is a famous fan of the book, the work itself received mixed reviews from various literary critics. D.V. DeVincentis ("High Fidelity") is penning the script and Pascal Chaumeil ("Heartbreaker") is directing this film version which will hopefully draw a better response.

The premise follows four strangers who happen to meet on the roof of a high building called Topper's House in London on New Year's Eve, each intent on committing suicide. With their plans for a solitary death ruined, each recounts their misadventures as they decide to come down from the roof alive and start their own support group for each other.

The quartet includes Pierce Brosnan as a married successful radio DJ who lost his career and family after sleeping with an underage girl and going to prison, Toni Collette as a single mother of a disabled son who is feeling more and more trapped, Aaron Paul as a man who gave up his dreams to be a rock star, and Imogen Poots as a teen girl with family problems. It feels like one of those films that could go either way, but we'll have to wait and see.

Analysis: Set to premiere at Sundance ahead of a UK release in March, 'Love' explores the life of London porn baron turned property billionaire Paul Raymond. Matt Greenhalgh ("Nowhere Boy," "Control") penned the script for this fourth collaboration of Winterbottom and Coogan after "24 Hour Party People," "Tristram Shandy: A Cock & Bull Story" and "The Trip".

Raymond was an eccentric character at the heart of several pivotal events in British culture. Originally titled "The King of Soho," the name had to be changed after the threat of legal action by Paul Raymond's son, Howard. Howard was already developing a project of the same name about his father's life.

Of the film, Coogan says: "It has that strange combination of comedy and tragedy that Michael Winterbottom manages to pull off with a real deftness of touch. Like very few films these days it’s actually about something without being portentous. Oh and there’s lots of naked ladies in it too."

Analysis: Musician Rob Zombie's career shift to filmmaking takes a turn towards the more interesting with this original horror tale. Before now, Zombie's films seemed to wallow in a certain level of debasement. From "House of 1000 Corpses" and its boundary pushing sequel "The Devil's Rejects," to both the films in the "Halloween" franchise reboot, the only thing that has marked his work so far has been a continual and graphic level of brutality. He was not helped by tackling a highly-regarded benchmark like the early "Halloween" films and bringing them down to an utterly dysfunctional level.

With 'Lords' though, Zombie has set out to do something different and, unlike "Halloween," he has managed to score the complete creative freedom he needs to do it. Made with the help of "Paranormal Activity" and "Insidious" producers Haunted Films, the result is this more artistic attempt at horror that puts a greater emphasis on establishing atmosphere than spraying blood. The story follows a radio DJ and recovering drug addict (Sheri Moon Zombie) in the sleepy Massachusetts town who works as part of a radio team.

A vinyl record arrives for her which she assumes is a rock band, and as it starts to play she experiences a flashback to a past trauma. She soon slowly starts to lose her grip on sanity as the agenda of a group of witches comes to bear. There's a definite "Rosemary's Baby" element to the whole thing, but it all unfolds with some truly weird and abstract Gothic imagery including a much talked about scene involving an encounter with a tentacled demon.

Reviews out of the Toronto Film Festival were good, even from stern art house critics and frequent festival filmgoers with many labelling it as his best work yet. Praise came for Zombie finally instilling a sense of restraint within himself, one reviewer claiming that the movie "aims more for surreality than shock." There's been some disagreements about the ending, but this more Alejandro Jodorowsky-inspired surreal approach (whilst still visceral enough to please his long time fans) is a welcome change of pace and hints at bigger things to come.

Analysis: An Australian film done entirely in German, "Lore" marks the second feature of filmmaker Cate Shortland. Her first was 2004's brilliant "Somersault" about the relationship between a 16-year-old girl and the son of a local farmer. Winning multiple awards, the film launched the career of Abbie Cornish and showcased how truly great Sam Worthington can be as a dramatic actor in what remains the best performance of his career.

"Lore" has been almost as well-received in Australia. The story is based on Rachel Seiffert's Booker Prize shortlisted novel "The Dark Room" and is set at the end of World War II. Saskia Rosendahl plays a young German girl named Lore who realises that something is dreadfully amiss when her S.S. father arrives with a truck to pack up their home to move to a remote location. Abandoned by their parents, Lore is left to fend for her younger sister, twin brothers and a baby. The group head out on a 1000km journey to their grandmother's house near Hamburg, along with a Jewish death camp survivor they meet on the road.

There's a distinct lack of specifics about the film, "Lore" is very much a mood piece with an impressionistic dream-like style served well by cinematographer Adam Arkapaw ("Animal Kingdom," "Snowtown"). Yet, it also deals with some very grim realities as it tackles both one girl's coming-of-age, and the wider issues of the personal cost of the Second World War for those on the losing side. It's risky material - Lore and her family grew up unquestioning Nazis, and the film takes a quietly involving and fairly authentic look at the way her belief system slowly crumbles in on itself as she takes this journey. It's a journey you should take as well.

Analysis: Formerly titled "AWOL," Danny Mooney's Vietnam War-era romantic drama looks and smells like a Nicholas Sparks work (ala "Dear John," "The Notebook," "Nights in Rodanthe"), but it's not. Not a bad idea though, last year's "The Vow" was also a 'Sparks-esque' clone which became a hit and helped push Channing Tatum's career into overdrive.

Can 'Love' do the same for Aussie hunk Liam Hemsworth? Chris' younger brother broke out onto the U.S. scene with an actual Sparks adaptation, "The Last Song," and followed it up with a couple of smart choices like "The Hunger Games" and "The Expendables 2". Aside from the 'Hunger' sequel, he has three films in which he is front and center in 2013.

This is the only one though that's being sold entirely on his name, and it's also the one in a genre that should bring out his female fan base. Hemsworth plays a soldier fighting in the Vietnam war. He and a friend travel to Michigan on a week-long leave, it's there that he falls in love with a hippie protester (Teresa Palmer). The guys soon debate going AWOL instead of returning to the war.

Mooney's directorial debut is a low-budget indie affair, something that unfortunately shows quite blatantly in the war and protesting scenes in the trailer. IFC is only giving the film a limited release, but it looks like it could be a solid little performer that should find an audience amongst romantics of all ages.

Analysis: Having already opened in much of the world, "After the Wedding" and "In a Better World" director Susanne Bier takes a break from her more dramatic fare with this rather breezy and commercial bittersweet romantic comedy. "An Italian 'Mamma Mia' without music numbers" is one way the project has been described, and there's been plenty of praise for the film's full use of the picturesque locales. As for the actual narrative however, the reaction isn't as unanimous.

The story has a young couple, Patrick and Astrid, who are to be married at a villa on the coast at Sorrento owned by Patrick's English widower father Philip (Brosnan). Astrid's Danish mother Ida (Trine Dyrholm) is in the late stages of chemotherapy while her philandering husband Leif (Kim Bodnia) is having an affair. They all turn up for the wedding weekend where the sparks fly. Cue a rom-com that is much more about Philip and Ida ending up together than it is their kids.

Despite the Beatles song for a title, "That's Amore" is the final film's true theme song and is a worrying sign of how oddly obvious Bier is going with this rather large serving of corn. Her films are quite refined and intelligent takes on characters and situations that could come off as melodramatic in another director's hands. While she is said to squeeze in some serious dramatic moments and surprises here, critics have been divided as to whether she has effectively pulled it off. Audiences will likely be the same.

Analysis: With rival film "Inferno" having fallen apart, this indie biopic of Linda Boreman now stands on its own and is slated to go before the press at Sundance in a few weeks. Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman ("Howl") helm from a script by W. Merritt Johnson ("Temple Grandin," "In Treatment") which is based on the biography by Eric Danville.

Boreman rose to fame as iconic porn star Linda Lovelace of 1972's "Deep Throat." She subsequently transformed into feminist, anti-porn activist Linda Marchiano after breaking away from her abusive and exploitative husband. This particular film is told through the perspective of three interviewers at various stages of her life from 20 to 32. According to the filmmakers, the aim was to show her "ascent, decline and '80s-era redemption." Each act is said to be depicted in "different styles" to fit the content.

Seyfried is taking some risks with this, going full-frontal in a movie that will feature quite a bit of nudity from many involved. Other key players include Peter Sarsgaard as Boreman's pornographer husband Chuck Traynor, Wes Bentley as her second husband, Sharon Stone as her mother, James Franco as Hugh Hefner, Sarah Jessica Parker as Gloria Steinem, and Adam Brody as porn star Harry Reems. Despite the flash, the film is said to have a major empowerment message amidst all the T&A.

Analysis: "Two Lovers" and "We Own the Night" director James Gray re-teams with his good luck charm Joaquin Phoenix for a fourth time on this $16 million, 1920s New York-set drama. Marion Cotillard plays one of two Polish immigrant sisters who travel to New York to start a new life. When her sister becomes deathly ill and is quarantined, Cotillard is tricked into a life of burlesque and prostitution. She soon falls for a charming magician (Jeremy Renner), the cousin of the sleaze (Joaquin Phoenix) who keeps her turning tricks.

There's been some confusion over the title, first it was "Lowlife," then it was untitled, then "The Nightingale," and now it has reverted to being "Lowlife" again. The confusion came over Luc Sante's book of the same name, though the events in Sante's book take place a good six to seven decades before those in the Gray film. 'Lowlife' refers to a designation given to certain people coming in through Ellis Island - ones whom the immigration officers thought would end up becoming wards of the state, and so were often not allowed within the United States.

The Weinstein Company has scored the North American rights to the film which was completed just a few weeks ago. Gray is hoping for a Cannes debut if the festival will allow him. He has also reportedly screened it, and "the response from people who like my films is that it’s my best film." A few minutes of the film were shown this past year at the Telluride Film Festival where it drew a great reaction.

ALSO OPENING:

London Project
British filmmaker Joanna Hogg's third feature following her acclaimed work on "Unrelated" and "Archipelago." Once again she and her regular collaborator Tom Hiddleston ("Thor," "The Avengers") team for this feature which was shot in October in London. No details are available about the plot, only the cast which includes Liam Gillick and Viv Albertine from punk band The Slits. Both BBC Films and the British Film Institute have backed the project, which speaks to its pedigree somewhat. Hogg herself says: "I continue to be fascinated by the blurred line between the comic and the horrendous - but depicting this in an ordinary, every day context that is closer to home, and therefore more terrifying."

The Longest Week
YRF Entertainment, the new Hollywood banner of a veteran Bollywood production company, saved this $15 million film after the original financier bailed. Jason Bateman plays a spoiled rich kid living off of his parents in a Manhattan Hotel. In the space of a week he is evicted, disinherited and falls in love with the object of his best friend's affection. In these tight economic times, stories of spoiled rich kids finding themselves are a tough sell (hello "Arthur" remake). Bateman's appeal has also worn thin thanks to some dud choices of late, so hopefully the material is good enough it can escape both the standard rom-com trappings and its setup.

Lullaby
Best known for his hunky good looks in various screen and stage roles, New York actor Andrew Veritas has been making the move to film production in recent years with producing credits on the likes of "The Art Of Getting By" and "At Any Price". He now makes his directorial debut on this dramedy about a man (Garrett Hedlund), estranged from his family, who receives word that his father (Richard Jenkins) has chosen to take himself off life support within 48 hours. So begins a race to reunite with his other family members before his dad passes. Levitas has managed to pull in some amazing talent for the project including Amy Adams, Jessica Brown Findlay, Terrence Howard, Anne Archer, and Jennifer Hudson. Still no word on a release date yet though.

Luv
One of the first limited releases of 2013, coming a full year after its Sundance 2012 premiere, is this coming of age indie drama set across the space of one day. With a mother in rehab and father out of the picture, a young 11-year-old Baltimore boy (Michael Rainey Jr.) is reunited with his charismatic and recently released from prison Uncle Vincent (Common) who wants to open a high-end crab shack. Taking the kid with him as he tries to get a bank loan, Vincent ends up having to turn to his former associates and do one more drug deal to demonstrate his loyalty. Reviews have been alright, with most praising Common's performance. It is, however, very much a niche film with a distinctly limited appeal.